What was a merchant seamans life like in the past what experiences would he have had what were the ships like that he sailed in & what risks did he run? Was he shipwrecked rewarded for bravery or punished? & how can you find out about an ancestor who was a member of the long British maritime tradition? Simon Willss concise & informative historical guide takes the reader & researcher through the fascinating story of Britains merchant service & he shows you how to trace individual men & women & gain an insight into their lives. In a series of short information-packed chapters he explains the expansion of Britains global maritime trade & the fleets of merchant ships that sustained it in peace & war. He describes the lives duties & tribulations of the generations of crews who sailed in these ships whether as ordinary seamen or as officers stewards engineers & a myriad of other roles. & he identifies the websites you can explore the archives records & books you can read & the places you can visit in order to gain an understanding of what your seagoing ancestor did & the world he knew. Simon Willss practical handbook will be essential reading & reference for anyone who is keen to discover for themselves the secrets of our maritime past & of the crewmembers & ships that were part of it. ...

Many family historians will come across direct links to ancestors who were affected by poverty. Yet despite the burgeoning interest in genealogy the history of pauperism & of poor relief has rarely been written about & no previous book has provided a guide to documents & records that family researchers can use to their trace their pauper ancestors. In this accessible & informative introduction Robert Burlison gives a vivid account of poverty & the poor. He identifies relevant records indicates where they can be found & offers essential advice on how this information can be used to piece together the lives of distant & not so distant relatives. ...

The experience of civilian internees & British prisoners of war in German & Turkish hands during the First World War is one of the least well-known
- & least researched
- aspects of the history of the conflict. The same applies to prisoners of war & internees held in the UK. Yet as Sarah Paterson shows in this authoritative handbook a wide-range of detailed & revealing information is available if you know where to look for it. Briefly she outlines the course of the campaigns in which British servicemen were captured & she describes how they were treated & the conditions they endured. She locates the camps they were taken to & explains how they were run. She also shows how this emotive & neglected subject can be researched
- how archives & records can be used to track down individual prisoners & uncover something of the lives they led in captivity. Her work will be an essential introduction for readers who are keen to get an insight into the experience of a POW or an internee during the First World War & it will be an invaluable guide for anyone who is trying to trace an ancestor who was captured.


...

Whether you are interested in the career of an individual Royal Marine or just want to know more about the part played by the Marines in a particular battle or campaign this book will point you in the right direction. Assuming that the reader has no prior knowledge of the Royal Marines their history or organization Richard Brooks & Matthew Little explain which records survive where they can be found & how they can help you in your research. They also describe in vivid detail the evolution of the Royal Marines from the tentative beginnings of the service in the seventeenth century to their present position as a key part of the British armed forces. ...

Many family historians will come across direct links to ancestors who lived & worked in the countryside as farmers labourers landowners village tradesmen & professionals
- for most of us have rural ancestors. Yet despite the burgeoning interest in genealogy these people have rarely been written about with the family historian in mind. No previous book has provided a guide to the documents & records from medieval times to the twentieth century that researchers can use to find out about their rural ancestors & the world in which they lived. That is why this accessible & informative introduction by rural historian Jonathan Brown is so important. He describes the make-up of country & village society
- the farmers large & small the farm-workers the landowners & estate-owners & the local business people the tradesmen & merchants. At the same time he identifies & discusses the relevant national & local records indicates where they can be found & offers essential advice on how this information can be used to piece together the lives of distant & not so distant relatives. Tracing Your Rural Ancestors is essential reading for anyone who is looking for an insight into the history of rural life work & society.

...

Since its first publication twenty years ago Track Down Your Ancestors" has helped thousands of readers to take the first steps on their journey into their familys past. Now totally revised & updated in 2010 to include the latest on-line resources on the Internet the 1911 Census & changes at the National Archives. Delving into the past & discovering who your ancestors were where they lived & what their occupations were is a fascinating hobby that more & more people are choosing to take up. Over the years " Track Down Your Ancestors" has built up a fine reputation as the perfect place to get started
- now this new fully rewritten edition

Includes:: updated advice on using birth death & marriage certificates probate records census returns parish registers old newspapers The National Archives & many other sources to build up a picture of your familys past. The Internet has revolutionised family history research. Estelle now also

Includes:: comprehensive new advice on getting the most from online resources & the best way to keep all your information organised. Praise for the previous edition: A handy book at a very friendly price that will start new family historians off on the right track
- " Practical Family History". A comprehensive beginners guide to family history research
- cheap too
- " Your Family Tree" magazine."







...

A valuable addition to the successful ' Aspects of Modelling' series this new book covers perhaps the most basic but most important aspect of the railway modeller's hobby after the construction of the baseboards the layout itself. Included in the book are an examination of a number of simple layouts & detailed explanations on how more complex plans can be developed. The book also shows the sort of compromises that have to be made when creating a layout in limited space & gives useful tips & guidance on avoiding common pitfalls. Fully illustrated this is a practical guide to getting track layouts correct & gives the very best technical advice for anyone starting out in railway modelling; it also provides much helpful guidance for the experienced modeller. ...

As seen on TV: now a major BBC4 television series. Inspector Montalbano rises one morning to find the carcass of a horse on the beach in front of his seaside home. But no sooner do his men arrive than the body has mysteriously vanished leaving only a track in the s&. Before long Rachele a beguiling equestrian champion turns up at police headquarters to report her horse missing. The horse had been stabled at the grounds of a certain Saverio Lo Duca one of the richest men in Sicily. Lo Duca has lost one of his own horses too. Montalbano his curiosity piqued investigates but before long things take a more disturbing turn.. . But who has Montalbano upset within this strange unfamiliar world of horse-racing? & what has the Mafia to do with it all? A remarkable series. The Track of Sand is as funny & intriguing as the best of its predecessors Independent ...

Milla has finally escaped her abusive husband only to find herself at the heart of an anti-terrorist operation. Lemmer has agreed to protect a pair of smuggled rhinos on a thous&-kilometre journey
- his strangest job yet will also be his most dangerous. And former policeman Mat already wants to quit his new job as a private investigator. But he has promised a young woman he will find her missing husband.. .wherever the trail may lead. From the vibrant streets of Cape Town to the wilds of Zimbabwe from luxurious gated communities to the ganglands of the Cape Flats different paths begin to cross in a novel of ever-increasing suspense.
...

Jamie & Tom are back in Jurassic dinosaur world doing a spot of prehistoric bird watching. Suddenly a large face appears among the treetops
- it's a huge diplodocus! The boys enjoy watching the enormous beast chewing on the branches but when a big twig gets lodged in its mouth the diplodocus starts going crazy. Jamie & Tom must find their way across the treetops swinging on vines in order to catch up with the dinosaur & try to help him.
...